


Next Chapter

by Missy



Series: A Boy, A Girl, and Their Love Story [1]
Category: Laverne & Shirley (TV)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Discussion of Abortion, F/M, Pregnancy, Sequel, Unplanned Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-02
Updated: 2020-09-02
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:34:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26245006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Missy/pseuds/Missy
Summary: Laverne doesn't notice that she's "late" until three months have passed by.A sequel to Futsin's "Debutante Dalliance."
Relationships: Laverne DeFazio/Lenny Kosnowski
Series: A Boy, A Girl, and Their Love Story [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1906522
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	Next Chapter

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Futsin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Futsin/gifts).



> This fic is one of three I've got planned for this mini-universe. It'll take awhile to get back to fluffland, but it'll get there.
> 
> Read Futsin's Debutante Dalliance first so that this'll make sense: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25996696

Laverne didn’t notice she’d skipped a couple of periods until the third month passed by without what Shirley so daintily called her “monthly visitor.” She had her reasons. First there was that mess with Norman, which had resulted in their break-up. Then there was the trouble they’d had getting Carmine’s dance studio in order. By the time she came back from their two week’s long trip to see her grandma and Cousin Anthony in Brooklyn, she realized that nausea had set in. It was easy enough to count the month back and track it down to the right evening – the only evening she’d had thus far – and the right name.

A name which belonged to a perfectly imperfect man.

She tried not to drive herself crazy with worry as they waited the days after her blood test out, having seen Doctor Fishburne in secret and swearing him, in turn, to secrecy. The second she knew for sure she was in trouble, she waited until the Friday after, when she overheard Squiggy brag that he was going to be out all evening with Ready Betty Watsaluski during dinner at the Pizza Bowl. Laverne then cornered Lenny in the alleys. 

“Your place, tonight,” she said.

When he opened the door wearing his smoking jacket and an expectant smile, she knew she should’ve been more specific.

She should’ve been a LOT more specific with Lenny in general, she realized. They hadn’t talked a single thing out since that one perfect fairy tale night, when the two of them had been so caught up in the romance of the moment they’d forgotten to be as cautious as Shirley had urged them to be. Since then, neither Laverne nor Lenny had been exclusive to their happily-ever-after night of devotion, of course. They didn’t have the courage to tell their best friends what had happened, and except for a confession to Father Gucci, Laverne hadn’t spoken of it with anyone at all. The morning after she’d showered and gotten dressed before he’d woken up and every encounter between them had been awkward but knowing. But in the harsh light of day, he’d gone from being a suave count with tender hands and a knowing mouth to Lenny, her goofy, dorky, weird, occasionally eager-handed friend. She had run from the memory and the scene, as she always did, because it was easier.

Well, she couldn’t run now. “Len,” she began tentatively, stepping into the apartment, and then realized he’d actually cleaned the place up for her. Well, a little. There was still a huge pizza sauce stain on the wall next to the boys’ bunk beds, but he’d tried.

“Uh…if you wanna spend the night, I’ll tell Shirl you sprained your ankle on the pudding we’re cooling in the bathroom sink and you slept on the floor,” Lenny said, hands in the pockets of his jacket, rocking on his heels.

Laverne blinked very slowly at this revelation, shook her head and plunged in, sitting down on one of the mismatched chairs in the boys’ living room. “I’m not here for that, Len,” she said calmly, and placed a palm over her still-flat belly. _If you can hear me in there,_ she mentally spoke to the bean-sized protohuman she carried, _I hope you get my brains._

“Oh,” he replied, a little crestfallen. “What’s going on, then?”

She looked at him. “I can’t say it…”

“I knew it! You hate me!” he squeaked out, and started pacing. “That’s why you’ve been staying away from me since…”

“No!” she said. “No, I don’t hate anyone, I’m just…” she shook her head. “It’s a mess.”

“Tell me, I’ll make it…well, I’ll try not to trip.” He did that anyway, as he got to his knees and took her hands in both of his. “What’s wrong?”

She took a deep breath. “Lenny, I’m pregnant.”

In her nightmares - not the most recent one she'd had, a panicked hell-vision in which she was an old, unmarried virgin in which marrying him was her last resort – he responded to this news by telling her the kid wasn’t his. But this was reality, and in reality he was still Lenny. His blue eyes went wide with wonder, and he crushed her against his chest in a powerful hug.

“Laverne! I’m so happy!” he pulled away, looked at her suspiciously. “Are you happy?” 

She shrugged. “I dunno how I feel. I mean I don’t have…and we didn’t mean to...” He nodded, his antic face showing bemusement. “I dunno what to do next,” she confessed.

“Then I’m glad I’m on my knees,” he said.

She shook her head. Laverne wasn’t sure of anything right now, but Lenny’s words had crystallized one face for her. “I can’t marry you, Len. Not now.”

“But it’s my kid you’re having!” he said, and reflexively he pressed his palm to her belly. “I’ll take care of you, I promise.”

She shook her head, grabbed his hand and took it into her grip. “We ain’t even been out on a real date – not a double date or making-out-in-a-swan-boat. Besides, it’s not fair to us to get married like this just for the baby.”

He winced. “So what do you want to do?”

“What do you want me to do?” she asked, and immediately hated herself for being weak enough to ask. 

“I ain’t carrying the kid,” he said. Sitting on his haunches, he asked, “Do you want to give it up?” 

It took only a minute or two of contemplation for her to shake her head. It would be an unselfish gesture, but she couldn’t imagine going through so much pain only to give away the kid, toss it into a situation it didn’t ask for.

Then he squeezed her hand. Very gently, very tentatively. “Do you wanna talk to Carmine about it?”

In spite of herself, she gasped. Lenny was, by nature, an innocent – well, most of the time. She knew they were both aware of how their friend picked up cash on the side, but she thought Carmine had managed to keep his knowledge about how to obtain…well, one of _those_ , under his hat. “Len…”

“I know what it’s like when your mom don’t want you, Laverne.”

“Lenny!” The realization pierced her heart. 

“I can’t do that to any kid of mine,” he said. “And I can’t do it to you.”

That clarified the picture for her a little bit. She squeezed his hand back. “If I do keep the kid – if I decide to raise it – what are we gonna do? I can’t afford to…”

He blew a raspberry. “I’m gonna do what I said I’d do before. Take the dispatcher’s test and help you when you need it.”

For that she had to hug him. “You’re a terrific guy,” she sighed. “Has anyone ever told you that?”

“Just you,” he said. For a long moment she just stood there and embraced him, rubbing his back. She had no idea where they were going, but they were still on an even keel.

Then she pulled away apologetically. “I gotta go,” she said. 

“Where?” he worried aloud.

“I’ve gotta tell my Pop before he hears it on the street.”

“Nah,” Lenny said. He let go of her and grabbed his jacket from the table. “Let me come with you. That way, he’ll hit me instead.” He proceeded to drape the jacket around her shoulders.

“I don’t think he’d hit a pregnant woman, Len,” she said, allowing the smell of his skin - of chocolate and licorice - to surround her. 

Just saying the word sank everything into concrete. Pregnant. She was going to go through with it, and Lenny was going to do it with her. 

Laverne felt relief, even though thinking of the future made her a little queasy. 

She just hoped it would all work out.


End file.
